Stick Play (Boston Bucks #4)

18. Ash

18

Ash

I nside the locker room, Noah puts his hand on my shoulder. “Great save there, Mountain.”

I snort. “You had some great plays too, Jonesburger.”

“Seems nothing was getting by you tonight.” He cocks his head and there’s a gleam in his eyes and I’m not even sure I want to hear what he’s thinking.

Theo walks over. “Who’s the chick in the stands that he couldn’t take his eyes off?”

My blood instantly boils as that asshole smirks at me. I get along with almost all the guys on the team and some of us are closer than others, but Theo Wagner is a fucking womanizing pig.

“None of your fucking business and have some respect.”

He laughs and lets out a low, slow whisper. “Respect, that coming from you, Ash-hole?”

My fingers curl into fists. “What did you fucking say to me?”

“You think putting your dick in a single mom is going to help your image, Ash-hole? Wait until the media gets a hold of this. They’ll spin that shit in a direction that will send your head spinning.”

I turn to him, about to pound him against the lockers, but Elias steps in. So does Kalen Coolidge. Kalen has only been on the team a couple years, and he’s mostly quiet, until someone he cares about might get hurt.

“Go fuck off, Theo,” Elias barks out, and Kalen crosses his arms in a show of strength and support.

Theo holds his hands up. “Hey, just looking out for you, buddy. Hate to see you slammed on socials, again.”

“None of this is your business,” I toss back and his face hardens.

“It’s my business when you get traded.” He glances at the guys. “It’s all our business when you get traded and we have to break in a new guy. You made one good play tonight, but mostly you’ve been playing like shit.”

“I can’t remember the last time you brought anything to the ice,” Gunther points out, coming to my aid.

As they toss barbs back and forth I shake my head. Looks like Theo believed Liza’s lies, and that’s not a surprise. They were spotted out together a couple of times after she threw me under the bus. The relationship must have fizzled out—maybe being with him didn’t get her enough Insta likes—because he’s back on the bunny circuit again. Too bad really, they were made for each other.

“You good?” Noah asks, as Gunther shoves Theo away, before I get a chance to destroy him. I don’t like him talking about Gina like that. Yeah, I’m overprotective of my friends, all my friends, even the one who is friends with benefits, and maybe more so. Jesus.

“I’m good.” I tug off my clothes, grab a towel from my locker, and wrap it around my waist.

“We’re heading to Kilting Around?” Noah asks. “Grab a beer before we head out this weekend?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.”

“Will Gina be joining us?” he asks in such a casual manner—so casual, it’s clear he’s trying to cover for something, so I turn back to him.

“No.” I study his face as I harden mine. “She has Zoe. Tomorrow is a school day.”

“Right, Zoe. I saw her in your jersey next to your dad and Camryn.” A small smile touches my mouth and I quickly wipe it away. Noah grins again. “You’ve got something on your mind, Jonesburger?”

We start walking to the showers. “No, it’s just that Camryn and Tate had a lot of fun with you guys when we were in the Caribbean. They told me all about the sledding, your broken nose…”

“It wasn’t broken,” I grumble.

“They loved the sleepovers and cutting up your clothes.”

“Gina came to take care of Dad and they had nothing to sleep in. What was I going to do? We had no choice.” Oh, so many excuses, that I’m not sure my buddy believes anything I’m saying.

He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Real good of you to step in and help like that.”

I eye him and know he’s got a lot more on his mind. Hell, Brady warned me about getting into trouble when I had dinner at his place, but then again, it wasn’t a warning, was it? He said he thought it could help my image. I think Coach might see things differently.

I shrug. “Gina was in a bind. She had too many kids on her hands when her staff was off sick, during a snowstorm. Two of those kids were your kids. I did it for you, bud.”

“Oh, you did it for me, did you?”

Tanner Bang, who knitted us all mitts for Christmas one year—he even knits on the buses and the planes when we head to away games—comes along. “Hey, heard you’re Gina’s manny.”

“Jesus Christ.” I snort out a sarcastic laugh. “Are you guys all in a knitting club or something? Sitting around gossiping about my love life?”

“Love life?” Noah arches a curious brow, as he quickly zeros in on that one word.

I step up to the shower, hang up my towel, and turn on the spray. “You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say, or lack thereof.”

“Ash,” Noah begins, and I hold my hand up to cut him off.

“I don’t need a lecture.” Actually, I probably do, because I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing anymore, other than falling in love with a single mom, and let’s face it, her daughter too. I have never in my life felt like this before. It’s messing with me in the worst way. But that single mom isn’t interested in bringing anyone into her life. Relationships are nothing but complications to her—she has her and her daughter’s heart to protect—which is why this is all a secret.

Maybe you should show her you’re not a threat, Ash.

“Mountain,” Noah continues, despite my protest as he turns on the spray and steps under it. “All I was going to say is, it looks good on you.”

The fight drains out of me—they all know me too well—and my shoulders sag. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, buddy. She’s a keeper.” I glance at Tanner who’s showering beside me and he’s frowning.

“What?” I ask and brace myself. Is he the only smart one here who thinks messing with a single mom with trust issues is bad, and that coach and the media would have a field day with it?

“I was just thinking I needed to add an adult woman and youth mitts to my list this year.”

I grab the soap and start washing. “Jesus, enough with the mitts.”

“You don’t like them?” He almost looks hurt.

“Yes, but I need a hat.”

We all laugh and there’s a new kind of lightness about me. The guys think this looks good on me. But it’s Gina I’m worried about. She sees things differently. As more guys jump in the shower, I push those thoughts to the back of my mind and finish washing up. I don’t expect Gina or Zoe to be outside waiting for me. I’m sure she took right off to put Zoe to bed. The thoughts of that sit heavy in my chest. Maybe I can call her later. Jesus, I got it bad.

I head outside and cameras flash in front of my face. I search for Gina, but my eyes are burning out of my head thanks to all the glaring lights. Digging into my back pocket, I pull out my cell phone and slide my finger across the screen, to see if Gina messaged. With my phone still in my hand, a girl comes running up to me, and the next thing I know she’s wrapped around me, legs around my back, one hand behind my head as she snatches my phone from my fingers.

“Ash, you were amazing tonight.”

I inch back and that’s when I realize it’s Callie, Margot’s granddaughter, and she’s in the jersey I signed for her. Fuck, she’s young, and now everyone is probably going to think we’re an item. This isn’t a good look for me.

I try to set her down, but her legs are around me holding like a vice. Jesus. “Callie,” I begin. “Let’s get you on your feet.”

She pouts and practically rubs her breasts in my face. I hear cheers from the crowd, and it’s not like I can see anyone with the cameras still flashing. I finally manage to peel her off me, and she holds my camera out to take a selfie of us.

The camera flashes, and I’m sure I must look like a deer in the headlights. “Send me these,” she says.

“I don’t have your number.”

She does something, then when her phone rings, she pulls it from her pocket and hands me mine back. “You do now.”

She trots off, and blinking to get my sight back, I peer into the crowd, just in time to see Gina bend down to say something to her daughter. They start to walk away, and it looks as if Zoe is dragging her feet. She either doesn’t want to go, or is dead tired. Probably both.

Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I push through the crowd, and touch Gina’s shoulder to draw her attention. She has an uneasy look on her face when her eyes meet mine. “Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?” I half joke. I want to lighten her mood, because in no way do I want her to think I liked Callie’s little performance back there.

She glances around me, and winces as someone takes her picture. “You were busy. You have to go do your after-game thing.”

“After-game thing?”

Zoe tugs at me. “You took that guy out hard, Ash.” She rubs her tired eyes and I suddenly don’t give a shit who’s watching. Let Coach ream me out again. I bend and pick Zoe up, and she rests her tired head on my shoulder.

“Close your eyes, Zoe.” I rub her back and glance at Gina. “Did you drive here?”

She nods and fights a yawn. “I’ll walk you to your car.” I note the dark smudges under her eyes. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked her to come to this game. What a selfish prick I am. “Better yet, how about I drive you both home?”

“No, you need to go out with the guys and WAGs for drinks. The roads are good. I can get home by myself.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I’m tired of you doing things yourself.” Her eyes go wide. Shit, I didn’t mean to sound so aggressive. “Gina.” I soften my voice. “Where’s your car, babe?”

Before she can answer, Dad steps up to us. “There you are.” He looks so proud of himself when he shakes out the clothing in his hands. “Look what I got for you, Gina.” He hands her a jersey that actually fits her. “I also got this for you, Zoe.” Her head lifts as he holds out a children’s jersey. “Now you can move around a little better when you cheer.”

“I love it,” she says and holds her arms out, and Dad leans in for a hug. “Can you be my grandfather?” she asks, and the noise of the crowd closes in on me. “Camryn and Tate have a grandfather. They call him grandpa. They have a grandma too. Wait, do you have a grandma?”

“No, Zoe. I don’t,” Dad responds, knowing she’s really asking if he has a wife who could be her grandma.

“If you put a ring on a girl’s finger, and sleep in the same bed, you could have a grandma.” She yawns. “Oh, you have to kiss her too. Tate said he doesn’t want to kiss a girl.”

Even though Dad is cocking his head in confusion, he grins. “Is that all I have to do?”

“If you want a grandma. I could give you one of my lump wishes.”

On that note—and while I think that’s the sweetest fucking gesture ever for a little girl who is saving her wishes for a daddy—I say, “Let’s get out of here.” We head toward the parking lot, where Gina parked, and I get Zoe buckled into her booster seat. I fish my keys from my pocket and hand them to Dad. “Can you follow us to Gina’s?”

“Sure thing. You go ahead. I’ll catch up.” He winks at me. “I know the way.”

He begins to whistle as he walks away. “You can find my car okay?” I ask. He turns back and glares at me. I hold my hands up, palms out, and bite back a grin. “Right, I get it. Sorry.”

I catch Gina’s smirk. “He loves to prove his independence, doesn’t he?”

“Until he’s sick.” I pause to do air quotes around that one word. “And then needs my girlfriend to take care of him.”

As soon as the word girlfriend slips from my mouth, I realize what I’d said. Gina’s wide eyed gaze locks on mine, and I quickly backtrack. “You know what I mean.” She might, but that doesn’t mean little miss Zoe does. I quickly glance into the car and exhale a relieved breath when I find her head tilted, her eyes close.

I note the jersey in Gina’s hand. “You don’t have to wear that or anything.” I laugh. “I don’t think Dad has given up.”

She slides into the passenger seat and I drop into the driver’s seat, adjusting the seat back, because I’m practically sitting on the steering wheel. She laughs.

“My mountain man. Too big for my car.”

“When the seat is this close, I am.” Her grin fades, and I’m not sure what’s going through her mind. I adjust the seat, and try for casual. “You know I didn’t mean that about girlfriend.” My eyes are on her as I adjust the rearview mirror.

“Of course.” A soft groan rumbles in her throat. “I just hope no one heard it.” She glances out the window and bites her lip, and I note the tightness in her shoulders.

I reach across the seat and take her hand in mind, giving it a little squeeze. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not used to being in the spotlight like that.”

“I love my fans, I really do, but it can be overwhelming, for sure.”

“Callie sure was all over you.”

“I pray to fucking God that’s not splashed all over the news tomorrow. I can see the headlines now.”

“Better her than us,” she murmurs quietly.

My heart drops into my stomach, and churns. “I’m really sorry, Gina.” Fuck, I had no idea that being seen with me like that would upset her so much. I guess she really is serious about keeping this a secret and I’m obviously finding it harder and harder to keep things under wraps. A few of the guys already know and I wasn’t able to throw them off or convince them otherwise.

Why is that?

Oh, because I didn’t fucking want to.

I want to talk about Gina. I like talking about Gina.

I ease her car out of the busy parking lot and she falls quiet as I take her home. I glance in my rearview mirror, looking for signs of Dad, but he must be stuck back in traffic. We finally reach her place, and I park.

“I’ll carry her in, okay?”

“Thank you.”

I unbuckle Zoe, tug her into my arms and carefully make my way up the slick driveway. It had rained earlier and the temperature is dropping. I need to get home fast before things ice up. I just hope Dad is okay driving here.

We head up the stairs and I take Zoe straight to her room and set her on her bed. Gina closes the door quietly, and looks at me. “I don’t let her go to sleep without brushing her teeth or washing up, but I think I’m going to have to make an exception for tonight.”

I cup the back of her neck and bring her lips to mine. “I loved seeing you guys tonight,” I whisper into her mouth.

She pokes me. “You scared me when you hit that guy. I thought you were hurt.”

I lightly rub her cheek with my thumb. “Worried about me, babe?”

“Yes, I was.”

I kiss her deeply, and my cock aches for her. Voices from outside reach my ears and I inch back. “That must be Dad.” My gaze rakes over her flushed face. It kills me to move away, but I need to get Dad off the roads. “I’ll see you later.” She nods and I head outside. I hurry down the stairs, only to reach the sidewalk and see that it’s Callie and some girls chatting away.

I stay in the shadows and wait for Dad. Minutes tick by and worry invades my gut. Digging my phone from my pocket, I call him. He picks up on the second ring.

“Everything okay?” I ask quickly.

He grumbles something under his breath. Probably cursing me for checking up with him. “Everything is fine,” he blurts out, like I offended him.

“Where are you?”

“I’m at your place. Where do you think I am?”

I shake my head. “Dad, you were supposed to follow me to Gina’s.”

“Oh jeez.” I hear a slapping sound and envision him whacking his forehead with his palm. “I completely forgot. Must have been going on autopilot, straight to your place.” I hear rustling sounds in the background, and he grunts, like he always does when getting out of the recliner I bought specifically for him. “I can come now, son. Oh wait, it looks like the roads are getting slick. Can’t you just stay over, and I’ll come by in the morning?”

“I have to be up early. We’re headed to Tampa, remember?”

“Of course, I remember. I can come early.”

“I can just take a cab home. No sense in you getting up early.” I pause and sink deeper into the shadows when the light next door flicks on and falls over Callie and the girls. I thought she didn’t know anyone in town. Wasn’t that why her grandmother suggested I take her out?

“No, no. I’ll come early.”

“Are you meddling again?”

“What? No. Why would you accuse me of that? I made an honest mistake, son.” Another grunting sound as he drops back down into his chair. “Maybe I’m not as sharp as I once was.”

Okay, that’s bullshit and the fact that he’s using that as an excuse is exactly what he’d do if he was meddling. Fuck. Maybe I should just call a cab right now. I do have an early morning.

“Goodnight, Ash.”

With that the call ends, I open my app to get a car. As the light shines on me, a recognizable voice calls out from the sidewalk next door.

“Ash, is that you?”

“Fuck.” I step from the shadows and the streetlight falls over me. “Yeah, just calling a ride. Dad was supposed to follow me here.”

“What are you even doing here?” She glances up at Gina’s place. “Are you?—”

“Zoe and Gina were exhausted. I gave them a ride home.”

She comes a bit closer, her hand on my chest. “And now you’re looking for a ride.”

“Uh…”

“Emma, Charlotte, come here.”

They hurry over and both gasp when they see me. “Told you I knew him. Come here.”

Before I realize what’s happening, they surround me, and Callie starts taking a bunch of selfies.

“Uh, okay. I better get going.”

“You’re not staying for a ride,” she murmurs, rubbing up against me.

“I have an early morning. Travel day tomorrow.”

She pouts. “Call me when you get back? Maybe we can hit up a pub before I go home.”

“Uh…”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I’m pretty busy.”

“Ash,” she cries out and tangles herself around me. “Please.”

Taking a play from Gina’s book, I say, “We’ll see.” Honestly, I have no intentions of calling her. I just said it so I could untangle myself from this situation.

“I look forward to it.”

“See you, Ash.” The girls trot off, and as Callie opens the side door to her grandmother’s house, I glance up and see Gina move past her window. I need to get the fuck out of here. But then, as though moving of their own accord, my feet move, and I find myself headed back up the steps, two at a time. Even though I have a key, I knock on Gina’s door, and when she doesn’t answer, I call out. “Gina, it’s me. Dad went to my place by mistake.”

The door swings open and the second I see her, standing there in the jersey Dad gave her, her hair flared around her shoulders, her cheeks a pretty shade of pink, my heart starts pounding hard.

“Gina,” is all I manage to say as I step inside and lock the door behind me. “You…” My gaze moves over her again, admiring her bare legs, and the way her hard nipples are poking against the jersey. “Do you have any idea what seeing you in this does to me?” I lightly rub the sleeve between my thumb and index finger.

She grins, because yeah, she does know. “You were really good tonight, Ash,” she tells me, her voice low and breathless.

My heart thumps and I too am a bit breathless when I murmur, “Yeah.”

She quivers when I exhale that one word and I can’t stop looking at her in my jersey wondering if she’s wearing panties, or is completely naked beneath the shirt. My fingers itch to touch her, to explore all that’s hidden from my hungry gaze.

“But now…”

“Now what?” I ask.

“Now I want you to be bad.”